It had been a long time coming, but finally we persuaded AY to lead us on this "extension" after Mandai shell station. PK and JN were already waiting for me at the guardhouse when I arrived at 4:45 am. These guys sure knew how to put pressure on me! I was with them at 4:58 am, with 2 minutes to spare. We rode off, and RV with AY at the Adam Road junction.
The ride to LH was uneventful, and AY took us on the Old Upper Thomson Road that joined back at Upper Thomson Road just before SLE. A quiet one-lane two-way winding road (about 4 k long). Pleasant enough change of scenery. Took a left into Mandai Rd. I was looking forward to this stretch and started to pull, hoping that my legs would hold up after the previous day's trail run. They didn't. Perhaps it was because I could get into the big chain ring (need to get that adjusted), so I rode on the small chainring all the way.
The undulating Mandai Road was a rush, as usual. Then after a quick regroup at Mandai Shell station, AY led us left up north on Woodlands Road. A sharp turn into Kranji loop (no heroics for me!) and a traffic wait at the railway crossing. Many workers were waiting for their transport - even on a Sunday! Tough life.
The bridge across Kranji Reservoir was pretty, much nicer than the other reservoir bridge at Yishun. Neo Tiew Road reminded me so much of the good old farm days. The smell, narrow winding roads. JN had a broken spoke and had trouble freeing his rear wheel. We managed to open the brake calipers and with a prayer and some luck, we hoped to make it back. (And we did!)
The north part of Lim Chu Kang is pretty scenic and tree-lined. The south section by the cemeteries is open and a little windy and slight upslope. LCK rode shorter than I'd imagine.
We turned left into Old Choa Chu Kang Road, past the airbase and beside KJE before turning right into Brickland Road. The area here is more built up and there's more traffic. A left into Bukit Batok Road where we took a short break to stretch our legs. It was a challenging ride especially those who had less miles on their bikes. Frankly, I was very pleased that we did as well as we were doing!
Along Upp Bukit Timah, just past Linear, we stopped for breakfast - prawn noodles! Hot and succulent. Best prawn noodles I'd had for many months. It was about 7:30 am when we left for the remaining 12 k back to Trevose. Joined up with three other cyclists along Dunearn Road for a make shift peloton.
Distance covered: 57.4. Average speed 24.3 kph. Very decent speed considering all factors - crampy legs, wobbly wheel and limited road experience!
View ride on Garmin connect.
PS: How did it feel with two long training sessions back-to-back? It felt like completing a 42k run. Compression tights, tightness in the right leg, some pain in MRK (but minor), and that familiar limping walk. Boy do I miss these post race feeling! Anyway, 24 hours later, I was 85% back to normal. More long back-to-backs please.
1 comment:
Not a very good idea for more long back-to-backs! says, WIFE aka "MBH"
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